One reason AnByrce Scholars staff do Exit Interviews with their graduates is to have time to reflect on the growth and accomplishments of four years at Notre Dame. This particular class overcame much coming in in the fall of 2020, having a remarkably atypical first year and then exploding into opportunities over their next three years. One particular scholar who rooted deeply at Notre Dame, while also challenging herself across the globe is Ida Addo.
Ida Addo arrived on campus from Cincinnati, OH with plans to be a biomedical engineer. She had liked her chemistry classes in high school and grew up with Proctor & Gamble as a fixture in Cincinnati. "I had talked to some Chemical Engineers at P&G and liked the idea of combining medicine and chemical science." Once in her classes, she recognized something was missing. She was taking Dr. Maria McKenna's University Seminar, Education on the Margins and Hope: American (Counter) Narratives, and realized she was truly energized to go to class and thought that was something she should pay attention to regarding her major. Dr. McKenna recommended that she go to the Arts and Letters site and read through all of the majors, a daunting but fruitful task. Ultimately she landed on Economics, with minors in Public Policy and Real Estate. "Econ seemed to balance my STEM and social science interests and the Public Policy minor in the Keough School of Global Affairs and the Real Estate Development minor in Mendoza helped me see other conversations around social issues. I could show that I wasn't running away from math because econ was mathy. Ultimately, I was very happy with my major and minors and they provided me flexibility for study abroad and service while keeping a global focus." That global focus would send her to Miami with the Balfour Hesburgh program, to Thailand with the Real Estate Minor and to Brazil for study abroad. In Brazil she had the opportunity to delve deeper into social inequalities like education injustice, housing insecurities, humanitarian crisis in the Amazon, among others with which the broader Brazilian society wrestles. She explored the active role non-profit organizations, activism and the arts play in combating the underlying issues.
Closer to home, her interest in Economics stemmed from her curiosity to understand the distribution of resources and how decisions are made and its impact on diverse demographics in global communities. This curiosity, accompanied with a commitment to empower underserved communities through education, finance, policy and mentorship have been foundational in the many activities she is involved in on campus. She served as the Community Engagement Officer for Shades of Ebony where she enabled the club to foster sisterhood among Black women on campus and establish connections with other partners in the wider Notre Dame and South Bend Community. She was also the Vice President of the Africana Studies Club and very active within BlackND Capital and the Black Culrtual Arts Council. She also sought out conferences, like the Sadie T.M. Alexander Conference for Economics and Related Fields (SACE), where she interacted with like-minded peers from around the world.
She credits the College of Arts and Letters with allowing her explore so many sides of herself. "There was learning all throughout the way. It forced me to think in different ways, to consciously curate my classes, to take a little bit of everything. I had classes in poverty studies, the church, real estate. It was like a choose your own adventure." Also always present along with the way was her curated Notre Dame community "ND may not be the most diverse, but there really is a little bit of everything, people who come from different places with different abilities. I had friends from all over the world. There were always people to support you. For me, my high school was upper middle class, but it didn’t leave room for people on margins. Notre Dame gives you a chance to grow your identities. I am from an immigrant community. And there was support for students with such experiences."
Ida channeled all of these experiences into her work last summer with PGIM in New Jersey. She received a return offer and heads back east this summer to be an investment analyst focusing on asset management in real estate. She excited to develop herself outside of work, as well. "I easily could be consumed by work, but I also plan to address other things I care about like food insecurity and community gardens. I plan to challenge myself to slow down, pick up hobbies, meet different people. New York City contains all different parts of life, and I hope to replicate my successful ecosystem at Notre Dame outside of South Bend."
Originally published by at anbryce.nd.edu on July 16, 2024.